The Sins of the God King

Chapter 30: Sartos

The rain still poured heavily as Sartos and the rest sought cover in an abandoned Xeldorian ruin house with broken shed. It has three bedchambers that noticeably been ransacked. Ithika, the faith, was tending to her daughter's injured legs. 

Sartos discovered some smoked meat hanging from the ceiling. Unsure of what to do with it, he considered eating it as it is, but he wasn't sure if the others would agree. So he turned to Emae, whose hands were bound by rope, and her eyes were blindfolded.

"Emae,do you know how to cook smoked meat?". She is not his first choice, but Ithika seems busy. Emae looked in the direction of Sartos's voice and replied, "I could, but not with this blindfold and rope." 

Sartor moved closer and began to untie her blindfold, cautioning, "Don't even try anything."

Once the blindfold was removed, Emae retorted, "What creature around here do you think I can use to attack you? Roaches? Ants perhaps?"

Ignoring her, Sartos proceeded to untie her ropes. She continued to mock, but Sartos ignored her and proceeded to untie her ropes. As soon as the ropes were removed, Emae then went to the kiln and started a fire. Ithika finished healing her daughter, Mynie. took a seat at a small wooden table.

"So this is Xeldoria, or whats left of it" Ithika said while looking around. Then she began to look at both Sartos and Emae, "I never had a chance to thank both of you, especially you, young Tamer." She said while bowing her head.

Emae nodded her head in acknowledgment.

Sartos sat down near Ithika and asked her, " If you are a faith, why did you allow yourself to be captured by those Tamers?"

Ithika paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before she replied, "I left Highmoon when I was young and only mastered the healing sin." Her voice wavered, "I moved to Rha'lo City to be something other than a faith." Her voice trembled as she finished speaking.

Sartos then said, "I see, that makes sense," Sartos inquires further "How did you got captured?"

"As soon as we heard about the King's death, my husband and I knew we had to leave," Ithika said, her voice steady . "The city turned on conjurers, Faiths, and Forgers almost immediately. We could feel the anger rising, a wave that would soon crash down on us. My husband and I knew they would come for me next, so we decided to flee to Highmoon. My mother is still there, and I believed it would be safer for us than anywhere else."

She continued, "We had been traveling on foot for days when we encountered those Tamers along the way. My husband tried to protect us, but it wasn't enough. I tried to help, but they overpowered me with their tamed crobals."

Sartos remained silent as he listened to her story. After Ithika had finished speaking, he broke the silence. "I don't think Highmoon is safe," he stated.

Ithika replied, "Yes, it's the same in all the eastern regions, but at least in Highmoon, I'm sure they won't turn us away."

She continued, "I've heard that cities are closing their walls and not allowing many people inside."

Sartos was overcome with a growing sense of alarm. If major cities were indeed turning people away, the potential for widespread loss of life was deeply troubling. He fell silent for a moment, then turned his attention to Ithika and asked, "Where did you hear this?"

Ithika responded promptly, "I overheard it from those two tamers. They mentioned that as soon they gathered creatures, they had already burned and pillaged most of the villages along the way. The rest of their group had captured women for slavery and killed the men who were on their way. Those two tamers separated from their group to gather slaves without competition."